The company did not quantify the impact the storm on sales. Instead it pointed to what it said is an important turnaround in housing, which lifted sales 4.6% to $18 billion, and operating earnings up 23% to $1.1 billion. Earnings per share topped forecasts by 4 cents.

The strong results reflect "the start of the path toward the healing of the housing market," said CEO Frank Blake in a statement.

Housing market rebound ... finally!

The rebound in home building is something that has already been noted in other reports, including new home sales, which hit a two-year high in September and home construction, which surged to a four-year high.

Signs of an improvement in housing had already led analysts to forecast better results ahead for Home Depot.

The retailer's new guidance for sales and earnings for its fiscal year that runs through late January is better than the company's previous guidance, but both were a bit short of analysts' current estimates. And that could temper investor enthusiasm.

Monday, home builders DR Horton(DHI) and Beazer Homes(BZH) both saw their stocks fall after they reported results that were decent but clearly not better than some forecasts.

Home Depot rival Lowe's(LOW) is due to report its results this coming Monday. Analysts expect its earnings to be flat compared with a year ago.